The first edition of David Daley's book was titled "Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy," but it was renamed for its second edition.

Liveright, 2017

Listen

Listening...

/

17:10

Stateside's conversation with David Daley, former editor-in-chief of Salon and author of the book "Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count."

If they know what it is, most people despise gerrymandering, the practice of drawing legislative or congressional districts largely based on partisan advantage. It’s hated, unless it's your party that's benefiting.

Last year, Statesidetalked withDavid Daley, a former editor-in-chief of Salon and the author of Ratf**ked:Why Your Vote Doesn't Count, a book that deals with this very issue. Stateside​ host Lester Graham caught up with him to discuss the second edition's new epilogue on the 2016 election.

"Michigan is one of the most gerrymandered states in America," Daley said. "Republicans drew masterful lines after the 2010 elections when they took control of the entire state ... they were able to draw exactly the lines they wanted without any Democrats in the room."

The 2016 election cracked the Democrats’ “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan. They all went for Republican Donald Trump.

"There's a reason why of the 22 states that had new voter ID laws on the books for the 2016 elections, 21 were controlled by Republican legislatures," Daley said.

More than Clinton scandals or Russian hacking, Daley argues gerrymandering had the greatest impact on the 2016 election.

Related Content

Democrats in Michigan and a handful of other states need to win some statewide races by 2020. Otherwise, they risk ensuring Republican majorities for another decade--even if Democrats get more votes at election time.

For months, a dedicated group of citizens calling themselves Voters, not Politicians, has struggled to come up with a way to give control of drawing legislative districts back to the people. The idea is to ensure fair, sensible and competitive representation to everyone.

That may sound like arcane political science babble, but it is not. Most of us are being effectively denied choices because of gross partisan gerrymandering done to ensure continuous Republican control of government.

A grassroots group that wants to get an anti-gerrymandering proposal on the 2018 ballot is looking to make progress this week.

Voters Not Politicians is the non-partisan group in charge of the effort. It wants to change how the state draws its district lines.

The Board of State Canvassers will meet Thursday to approve or reject the form of the petition. It will look at things like font size and which portions of the constitution are referenced. This is meant to prevent lawsuits for improper format down the road.